Jerusalem. The place where it all begin. Well, allegedly at least. Hell, I almost made a religious conversion after leaving the frozen hell of Whitesboro and arriving in sixty degrees and sunny with a slight breeze here in Jerusalem.
There is not too much to report on the city yet, we will get back to that in a minute, but the plane ride over here was a different experience in itself. I flew through Newark (only my second time there but not bad, easy transfers between terminals, nice and spacious. Ronald Reagan, take note here). In order to get to our gate we were required to go through another not-very-rigorous security check, no doubt an Israeli rule. I was one of the first to go through, and there were a lot of people on this flight. Full-house folks. As I watched my fellow travelers come through into the waiting area I found out quickly that the religious team I bat for, the agnostics, was pretty short on depth. Most of the folks fell into one of three categories: Hasidic Jews, a Jewish religious travel group (I could tell by all their nametags) and a Pentecostal travel group (yep, nametags again). I figured I might want to keep any conversations to "miserable weather, huh?". What was pretty interesting was during the wait for boarding a group of Hasidic gentlemen all gathered in a corner and prayed. All of them wore traditional black clothing along with those cool wide-brimed hats (good one fellas) and sported curls, except for one guy, he had a bright green Adidas shirt. Reform Jew I guess. Anyway I was brought up Catholic and man, the way Christians pray is so boring compared to Muslims and Jews, particularly these dudes. They stand there and bob and sway back-and-forth while reading from their little books. Style points to the Jews from the Four Corners.
I had the very last seat, dead last, on the airplane. It put me close to the bathroom at least, but also meant I inevitably always had someone standing over me. It went fairly quick though, I came well prepared. Kindle, Ipod, Laptop, I was a technology center unto myself. I sat next to a Rabbi, and he had a laptop as well, but, get this, a portable CD player. Rabbi, really, are you serious? Can we maybe try to enter the 21st century here? The Hasidic group of guys also prayed midway through the flight, congregating in the back. Anyway, in a quick side note, I finished Robert Crais' "The Sentry" on my Kindle. You can't go wrong with that one folks, Robert Crais is like Betty White, money in the bank. Next up on the docket is a novel called "The Killer" which brings me to: the very first Official Four Corners Shout-Out!! How exciting! And the winner is: My Uncle Paul!! For the his absolutely "killer" (yeah, I did it) recommendation of "The Killer", Uncle Paul earns a special place in Four Corners lore. I have only read six chapters of the book but, very very impressive. I almost just stayed on the plane to read it. The action starts right out of the gate, and the authors style of writing is something I could get used to very quick. Uncle Paul, for your unselfish gallantry and historic contribution the the Four Corners, you win a life-time supply of the right to claim mention in this blog! Tell your friends, relatives and colleagues! Don't spend it all in one place Paul!
Upon arrival in Tel-Aviv (the only international airport in the country) my transition to hotel was incredibly smooth (Ben Gurion International is a nice airport by the way, Ronny, again man, whats up?). There is a shared-taxi service called Nesher Tours that will take your right to your hotel in Jerusalem for 55 shekels (about 15 dollars), not bad for a one-hour drive. The one catch is they wait for their ten or so seats to fill up until leaving. Our driver actually turned around and went back to the arrivals terminal when he realized one seat was still open. No big deal though, they fill up pretty quick. Oh, we also had to stop briefly for a small girl to get out and puke, she was on my flight, which hit some pretty bad turbulence.
My hotel has a great location, walking distance to the Old City and lively surroundings. I have only done some minor exploring so far, as I was in desperate need of a nap. Looks very promising though. The city, at least the newer part here, has a Mediterranean, Mid-Eastern and European feel to it all at the same time, a little bit like Istanbul, which is not bad company to be mentioned in.
I am napped up and about to go out for something to eat and a little more exploring. More to come later. And remember, if you see Uncle Paul, ask for his autograph or picture or something, he earned it!
There is not too much to report on the city yet, we will get back to that in a minute, but the plane ride over here was a different experience in itself. I flew through Newark (only my second time there but not bad, easy transfers between terminals, nice and spacious. Ronald Reagan, take note here). In order to get to our gate we were required to go through another not-very-rigorous security check, no doubt an Israeli rule. I was one of the first to go through, and there were a lot of people on this flight. Full-house folks. As I watched my fellow travelers come through into the waiting area I found out quickly that the religious team I bat for, the agnostics, was pretty short on depth. Most of the folks fell into one of three categories: Hasidic Jews, a Jewish religious travel group (I could tell by all their nametags) and a Pentecostal travel group (yep, nametags again). I figured I might want to keep any conversations to "miserable weather, huh?". What was pretty interesting was during the wait for boarding a group of Hasidic gentlemen all gathered in a corner and prayed. All of them wore traditional black clothing along with those cool wide-brimed hats (good one fellas) and sported curls, except for one guy, he had a bright green Adidas shirt. Reform Jew I guess. Anyway I was brought up Catholic and man, the way Christians pray is so boring compared to Muslims and Jews, particularly these dudes. They stand there and bob and sway back-and-forth while reading from their little books. Style points to the Jews from the Four Corners.
I had the very last seat, dead last, on the airplane. It put me close to the bathroom at least, but also meant I inevitably always had someone standing over me. It went fairly quick though, I came well prepared. Kindle, Ipod, Laptop, I was a technology center unto myself. I sat next to a Rabbi, and he had a laptop as well, but, get this, a portable CD player. Rabbi, really, are you serious? Can we maybe try to enter the 21st century here? The Hasidic group of guys also prayed midway through the flight, congregating in the back. Anyway, in a quick side note, I finished Robert Crais' "The Sentry" on my Kindle. You can't go wrong with that one folks, Robert Crais is like Betty White, money in the bank. Next up on the docket is a novel called "The Killer" which brings me to: the very first Official Four Corners Shout-Out!! How exciting! And the winner is: My Uncle Paul!! For the his absolutely "killer" (yeah, I did it) recommendation of "The Killer", Uncle Paul earns a special place in Four Corners lore. I have only read six chapters of the book but, very very impressive. I almost just stayed on the plane to read it. The action starts right out of the gate, and the authors style of writing is something I could get used to very quick. Uncle Paul, for your unselfish gallantry and historic contribution the the Four Corners, you win a life-time supply of the right to claim mention in this blog! Tell your friends, relatives and colleagues! Don't spend it all in one place Paul!
Upon arrival in Tel-Aviv (the only international airport in the country) my transition to hotel was incredibly smooth (Ben Gurion International is a nice airport by the way, Ronny, again man, whats up?). There is a shared-taxi service called Nesher Tours that will take your right to your hotel in Jerusalem for 55 shekels (about 15 dollars), not bad for a one-hour drive. The one catch is they wait for their ten or so seats to fill up until leaving. Our driver actually turned around and went back to the arrivals terminal when he realized one seat was still open. No big deal though, they fill up pretty quick. Oh, we also had to stop briefly for a small girl to get out and puke, she was on my flight, which hit some pretty bad turbulence.
My hotel has a great location, walking distance to the Old City and lively surroundings. I have only done some minor exploring so far, as I was in desperate need of a nap. Looks very promising though. The city, at least the newer part here, has a Mediterranean, Mid-Eastern and European feel to it all at the same time, a little bit like Istanbul, which is not bad company to be mentioned in.
I am napped up and about to go out for something to eat and a little more exploring. More to come later. And remember, if you see Uncle Paul, ask for his autograph or picture or something, he earned it!
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